Tom Hannifan
{{short description|American professional wrestling announcer}}
{{redirects|Tom Phillips (wrestling)|other people|Thomas Phillips (disambiguation)}}
{{BLP sources|date=December 2023}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox professional wrestler
|name = Tom Hannifan
|image = Tom Hannifan 072717.jpg
|caption =
|birth_name = Thomas Hannifan{{cite web|url=https://news.psu.edu/story/375409/2015/10/16/arts-and-entertainment/penn-state-alumnus-builds-broadcasting-career-wwe|title=Tom Phillips|publisher=Penn State University|access-date=March 16, 2020}}
|birth_date = {{birth date and age|1989|5|19}}
|birth_place = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
|alma_mater = Pennsylvania State University
|names = Tom Hannifan
Tom Phillips
|height = 6 ft 0 in [CONVERT]{{cite web|url=http://www.wwe.com/superstars/tomphillips|title=Tom Phillips|publisher=WWE|access-date=October 10, 2013|archive-date=November 15, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151115054032/http://www.wwe.com/superstars/tomphillips|url-status=dead}}
|weight =
|billed = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
|trainer =
|debut = 2012
|retired =
}}
Thomas Hannifan (born May 19, 1989) is an American professional wrestling commentator and sports broadcaster. He is signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), alongside Matthew Rehwoldt. He was previously an announcer for WWE under the ring name Tom Phillips and served at various points as the play-by-play commentator on NXT, SmackDown, 205 Live, NXT UK and Raw. In 2022, Hannifan joined Impact Wrestling as their lead commentator.
Career
= Early broadcasting career =
{{tone|section|date=December 2023}}
Hannifan began his career in his second year of high school as a public address announcer for a football game. His begin studying at Penn State Altoona before transferring to Pennsylvania State University’s main campus where he pursued a major in broadcast journalism, with a specific focus on sports broadcasting, and graduated in the year 2011.
During his tenure at Penn State, Hannifan was an active member of CommRadio, a radio station run by the students. Post-graduation, he worked with the Student U branch of the Big Ten Network. He also provided play-by-play commentary for Juniata College's football and basketball teams in central Pennsylvania.
Approximately a year and a half after graduating from college, Hannifan received a job offer from WWE.
= WWE (2012–2021) =
Hannifan conducted backstage interviews for the WWE App on Raw and was the lead announcer on Superstars, Main Event and SmackDown, flanked by color commentators Jerry Lawler and Byron Saxton,{{cite web|first=Broxck|last=Koller|work=WPVI-TV|publisher=Disney/ABC|url=http://6abc.com/sports/philly-native-tom-phillips-wwe-journey/486934/|title=Tom Phillips WWE Journey|date=January 22, 2015|access-date=January 22, 2015|archive-date=January 23, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150123235535/http://6abc.com/sports/philly-native-tom-phillips-wwe-journey/486934/|url-status=live}}{{cite web|first=Richard|date=September 27, 2013|access-date=September 18, 2014|last=Trionfo|url=http://www.pwinsider.com/ViewArticle.php?id=80551|title=WWE Superstars Report: Tag Team Action; Who Replaces Tony Dawson On Commentary?|work=PWInsider.com|archive-date=March 3, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303204333/http://www.pwinsider.com/ViewArticle.php?id=80551|url-status=live}} until he was replaced by NXT's play-by-play commentator Rich Brennan on the August 27, 2015, episode of SmackDown.{{cite web|url=http://www.wwe.com/shows/smackdown/2015-08-27/brennan-joins-smackdown-27870433|title=Rich Brennan joins SmackDown announce team|publisher=WWE|access-date=September 15, 2015|work=WWE.com|date=August 27, 2015}} He also served as the Social Media Lounge host on all WWE pay-per-view pre-shows until Fastlane (2017), when Charly Caruso took over the Social Media Lounge, and conducted backstage interviews for WWE.com.
In the summer of 2014 Phillips entered into a brief storyline with Alicia Fox, where he was stalked and tormented by her on a number of occasions, both ringside and backstage.{{cite web|url=https://www.wwe.com/videos/a-look-back-at-alicia-fox-tormenting-tom-phillips-wwe-app-exclusive-june-6-2014|title=A look back at Alicia Fox tormenting Tom Phillips: WWE App Exclusive|date=June 6, 2014|publisher=WWE|access-date=January 13, 2021|archive-date=October 29, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211029185904/https://www.wwe.com/videos/a-look-back-at-alicia-fox-tormenting-tom-phillips-wwe-app-exclusive-june-6-2014|url-status=live}} Hannifan, as Tom Phillips, served as lead play-by-play announcer for SmackDown Live commentary team.{{cite news|last1=Medalis|first1=Kara|title=Phillips to join SmackDown LIVE announce team|url=http://www.wwe.com/shows/smackdown/article/tom-phillips-joins-smackdown-live-announce-team|access-date=November 10, 2016|work=WWE|publisher=WWE News|date=November 8, 2016|archive-date=November 10, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161110113928/http://www.wwe.com/shows/smackdown/article/tom-phillips-joins-smackdown-live-announce-team|url-status=live}} He was the lead commentator for the NXT brand tapings and broadcasts from 2014 until being replaced by Mauro Ranallo in 2017. Phillips acted as lead play-by-play announcer at WrestleMania 33 on April 2, 2017, for the SmackDown brand, becoming the fifth person in the company's history to act as the lead commentator at WrestleMania.{{cite web|url=http://www.wwe.com/shows/wrestlemania/33/article/tom-phillips-makes-wrestlemania-history|title=Tom Phillips makes WrestleMania history|access-date=April 3, 2017|work=WWE.com|publisher=WWE}} Philips also led commentating in 205 Live before Vic Joseph replaced him.
In 2017 a Twitter user named Melissa posted screenshots of explicit conversations she alleges happened between her and Phillips while they were engaged. After the news broke, Phillips set his social media accounts to private.{{Cite web |last=Cotton |first=Simon |date=February 25, 2017 |title=WWE Commentator Tom Phillips allegedly caught cheating on his fiancé on Instagram (NSFW) |url=https://www.sportskeeda.com/wwe/news-tom-phillips-allegedly-caught-cheating-on-instagram |access-date=2024-01-15 |website=www.sportskeeda.com |language=en-us |archive-date=December 7, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231207180409/https://www.sportskeeda.com/wwe/news-tom-phillips-allegedly-caught-cheating-on-instagram |url-status=live }}
Phillips filled in for Cole on the October 2, 2017, Raw so that Cole could attend the wedding of his son.{{Cite news|url=http://www.wwe.com/shows/raw/article/michael-cole-missing-raw|title=Michael Cole to miss Raw this Monday night|work=WWE|access-date=2018-06-08|language=en|archive-date=September 29, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170929210857/http://www.wwe.com/shows/raw/article/michael-cole-missing-raw|url-status=live}} On October 5, 2019, WWE announced that a new commentary team would be on NXT UK, including Phillips.{{Cite web|url=https://www.prowrestling.com/tom-phillips-lands-new-wwe-announcing-role/|title=Tom Phillips Lands New WWE Announcing Role|work=ProWrestling.com|date=October 5, 2019|access-date=October 5, 2019|archive-date=October 5, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191005224212/https://www.prowrestling.com/tom-phillips-lands-new-wwe-announcing-role/|url-status=live}} On November 1, 2019, due to significant flight delays, Phillips filled in on commentary for Michael Cole and Corey Graves on SmackDown with other substitute announcers Renee Young and Aiden English on first hour and Pat McAfee on second hour.{{Cite web|url=https://www.wrestlinginc.com/news/2019/11/special-wwe-smackdown-announce-team-revealed-for-tonight-661587/|title=Special WWE SmackDown Announce Team Revealed For Tonight, Update On The WWE Travel Situation|work=Wrestling Inc.|date=November 1, 2019|access-date=November 2, 2019|archive-date=November 2, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191102032248/https://www.wrestlinginc.com/news/2019/11/special-wwe-smackdown-announce-team-revealed-for-tonight-661587/|url-status=live}}
Phillips also acted as lead play-by-play announcer at the Royal Rumble on January 26, 2020, for the Raw brand; the next day, Phillips announced that he would return for his new play-by-play commentator role on Raw, replacing Vic Joseph and joining existing commentators Jerry Lawler and Byron Saxton.{{Cite web|url=https://www.prowrestling.com/tom-phillips-reportedly-replacing-vic-joseph-on-wwe-raw-commentary/|title=Tom Phillips Reportedly Replacing Vic Joseph On WWE Raw Commentary|work=ProWrestling.com|date=January 27, 2020}} On March 12, 2020, Phillips left the announcing team on NXT UK. In April 2021, it was announced that Phillips would be replaced by Adnan Virk in his role as play-by-play commentator for Monday Night Raw.{{Cite web|title=ADNAN VIRK JOINS WWE® MONDAY NIGHT RAW®|url=https://corporate.wwe.com/news/company-news/2021/12-04-2021|access-date=2021-04-12|website=corporate.wwe.com|language=en}}
On May 27, 2021, WWE announced they had released Phillips from his contract, ending his nearly nine-year tenure with the company.{{cite web|url=https://wrestletalk.com/news/tom-phillips-released-wwe/|title=TOM PHILLIPS RELEASED BY WWE|date=May 27, 2022|access-date=August 1, 2022|archive-date=August 15, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220815070355/https://wrestletalk.com/news/tom-phillips-released-wwe/|url-status=live}} In January 2022, Phillips revealed his reaction to his WWE release, stating "It was a shock and it was a surprise. It was an emotional and heart-breaking day, but this is a business. It's budget cuts, and the pandemic has hit a lot of different businesses in a lot of different ways.... It took me a while to separate my personal feelings from what happened to a business standpoint."{{cite web|url=https://wrestlingnews.co/wwe-news/tom-hannifan-tom-phillips-talks-his-wwe-release-michael-cole-joining-impact-wrestling|title=Tom Hannifan (Tom Phillips) talks his WWE release, Michael Cole, joining Impact Wrestling|date=January 20, 2022|access-date=August 1, 2022|archive-date=May 28, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220528202613/https://wrestlingnews.co/wwe-news/tom-hannifan-tom-phillips-talks-his-wwe-release-michael-cole-joining-impact-wrestling/|url-status=live}}
=Impact Wrestling / Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2022–present)=
On January 8, 2022, Renee Paquette reported that Hannifan had joined Impact Wrestling as the new play-by-play announcer, replacing Matt Striker. Hannifan made his debut with the promotion at Hard to Kill.{{Cite web|title=Tom Phillips se une a la mesa de comentaristas de Impact Wrestling|url=https://solowrestling.mundodeportivo.com/new/104902-impact-wrestling-contrata-a-tom-hannifan|website=Solowrestling|date=January 9, 2022 |language=en}}
Other media
Hannifan is currently the co-host of State of State: A Penn State Football Show, along with former Penn State and NFL cornerback Justin King.
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{WWE superstar|tom-phillips}}
- {{IMDb name|id=5364516|name=Thomas Hannifan}}
- {{Professional wrestling profiles}}
{{S-start}}
{{succession box|title=SmackDown lead announcer|before=Michael Cole|years=2014–2015|after=Michael Cole}}
{{succession box|title=SmackDown lead announcer|before=Michael Cole|years=2015|after=Rich Brennan}}
{{succession box|title=NXT lead announcer|before=Rich Brennan|years=2016–2017|after=Mauro Ranallo}}
{{succession box|title=SmackDown lead announcer|before=Mauro Ranallo|years=2017–2019|after=Michael Cole}}
{{succession box|title=NXT UK lead announcer|before=Vic Joseph|years=2019–2020|after=Andy Shepherd}}
{{succession box|title=205 Live lead announcer|before=Vic Joseph|years=2019–2020|after=Jon Quasto}}
{{succession box|title=Raw lead announcer|before=Vic Joseph|years=2020–2021|after=Adnan Virk}}
{{succession box|title=205 Live lead announcer|before=Vic Joseph|years=2021|after=Vic Joseph}}
{{succession box|title=TNA Impact lead announcer|before=Matt Striker|years=2022–present|after=current}}
{{s-end}}
{{TNA Wrestling personnel}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hannifan, Tom}}
Category:American professional wrestling announcers
Category:Television personalities from Philadelphia
Category:Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications alumni